Tackle It Tuesday: Enjoy.

Now, usually, I'm all about getting things done. But today, the only thing I'm going to plan (besides the necessary dishes and laundry and dinner making) is to enjoy this baby. He's already growing so quickly and changing so fast. I hope and pray that he is not my last to birth, but I don't want to miss a minute of his newborn stage - and I don't want to miss a minute of my other boys, either.

So, I'm going to tackle ENJOYING my children today.

Tagged: Eight Random Facts

Jessica tagged me to tell you eight random facts about myself. Here are a few:

1. I'm beginning to write this post while parked outside Mazzio's waiting for our carryout pizza order (we're on our way to Gram's for lunch). So, #2 is singing along with Hermie, #3 was asleep, until #2 increased his volume, #4 is asleep in his car seat for the moment. I'm just thrilled that the shady tree I parked under is apparently a Cox hotspot.

2. I can't keep my boys' names straight. All of them (husband included) have Biblical names, and it's like trying to keep the cast of characters in order. So far this morning, I've messed up about 10 times, one of which was while I was on the phone with the clinic trying to make a two-week appointment for #4 and a vax appointment for #3. The receptionist, who knows us, laughed at me. I'm going to start calling them by their numbers in real life.

3. I rarely sleep through the night - and sometimes it has little to do with babies - I'm just awake. I guess my training by #1 to be awake and ready for a medical emergency in 2.4 seconds or less is still with me. If one of the babies cries out in the night, I'm instantly completely awake and have a major adreneline rush that takes hours to calms down. Some nights, I'm really wishing for some Ambien.

4. I'm not an outdoors kind of girl. I like air conditioning. I don't like to sweat - unless I'm intentionally working out - then I don't mind sweating so much. Though I prefer swimming to other forms of exercise. It's much cooler.

5. I'm not a beauty-treatment kind of girl either - someone gave me a very generous gift certificate to a local spa/salon, and I have no idea how I'm going to spend it. Pedicure? Not crazy about strangers touching my feet. Massage? Not crazy about strangers touching me, actually. A series of haircuts? I have a friend who cuts my hair, and I don't want to rob her of the occasional twenty bucks or (more importantly) hurt her feelings. Makeup application? Seems kind of silly for just my boys. I'm clueless.

6. I usually take my kids to Penney's to get their pictures made very often, but I'm very tired. So, this newborn didn't get a professional picture yet - maybe in a week or two. I did take a series of pictures of him at my mom's house this afternoon. One of them was good enough that I ordered baby announcements of it from Walmart. I'll get the envelopes printed and send them out tomorrow or Monday.

7. I love to cook. I hate to cook with a baby hanging on my pantleg and screaming at me. Someday I'll spend serious time putting together a tasty and elaborate meal for my husband. Today was not that day.

8. After #2, I had a serious bout with postpartum depression. After #3, I avoided it, but still struggled mentally and emotionally for weeks. Now, after #4, the battle is raging in my head again. So, should you actually be reading this far, please pray for my mental state. I know that God is in complete control, and that He won't give me more than I can handle, and I'll bless His name on this earth until He deems it time for me to bless His name directly in front of His throne. But knowing all that doesn't change that a new addition to our family makes the absence of our firstborn far more obvious to my heart.

So, whom shall I tag? A&EMom, CoffeeMom, and Kahri

Thankful Thursday: My Mother-in-Law

This is Mimi - at least that's what the boys call her. She amazes me. In spite of a variety of health issues (some of them life-threatening), she continues to charge through life at break-neck speed. For instance, three days a week, she spends her morning on the tennis courts and her afternoons in the chair at the dialysis clinic.

I think Thursday is her favorite day of the week. That is Mimi Day at our house - she borrows one boy for the day (the turn-taking is a new thing, and #2 is just going to have to get used to it - Mimi used to be all his every Thursday). Some days they just hang out at her house, and other days they go do something. She has introduced #2 to bowling, miniature golf, the local amusement park, the annual fair, the Home and Garden show, and (his favorite) the Boat Show. They've made countless trips to places like the local Wilderness store, where there is an indoor waterfall and boats to explore, the aquarium, and many, many parks. They've shared many plates of IHOP pancakes, Happy Meals, and Sonic lunches.

Like I said, the woman just amazes me with her zeal for life and her determination to do what she wants in spite of difficulty. I am very thankful for her!

Wordless Wednesday: Rest

Since my postpartum brain has very little power, I'm going to forgo my usual Works for Me Wednesday post and participate in (nearly) Wordless Wednesday instead.

Tackle it Tuesday: Thanks to the ants, ...

I now have the cleanest kitchen in Oklahoma. Here it is:


We found ants marching forty by forty under our backdoor this afternoon. I was FAR less than happy. The Bookworm King ran to WallyWorld to bet some ant killer, Windex, and some other stuff that was on the list. I stayed here and fought the army with the little Shark vacuum until DH got back and used the Big Vacuum. He sprayed the outside of the door with ant spray and then he did floors. While he was doing floors, I cleaned the living room and dining room and kitchen so that the ants wouldn't find as much food to eat (not that it was really dirty - we just have kids, remember). When I got started on the kitchen, I removed everything from the countertop section by section so that I could get ALL of the countertop clean. DH even lifted up the microwave so that I could clean under it (now THAT was gross).

But it's the cleanest kitchen in Oklahoma now.

I need to go get #4 back to sleep so that I can go to bed.

A Surprise on my Doorstep

ComfyDenim called this morning to tell me that she had a baby gift to bring by sometime today. She was being secretive and wouldn't tell me who it was from. I figured it was from someone at our church, since Comfy and her Pile were at church yesterday and all us Bookworms stayed home.

But, when Comfy and the Pile rang my doorbell and all the kids had been herded into the backyard, she produced a bag with a beautiful blanket sticking out of it and said, "You'd never guess who this is from."

It was from Kathleen, and it is absolutely, positively lovely.

See?


Not only does it appear beautiful from afar, but upclose the craftswomanship is amazing. Every stitch is perfect, every patch is symmetrical, and every cut is precise. The colors are beautiful, and it even goes well with the other quilt in #3's room - so when we double up #3 and #4, they will each have a unique quilt on their bed, but everything in the room will still match. (You'd think Kathleen had seen my house - it's that well matched).

Anyway - Kat, thank you very much for sending me such a piece of beautiful artwork! It will be well-loved and well-used.

The birth story

He arrived! Our Bookworm #4 is finally out here with the rest of us. He arrived May 10 at 11:50am. He is twenty inches and much to our surprise, weighs only seven pounds, nine ounces. (After one that was nine pounds, that was a bit of a shock - but a whole lot easier to push out).

But, getting to pushing was the hard part. We entered the hospital at 10pm in a decent labor pattern and my OB broke my water at midnight when I hit four centimeters. And the contractions got lighter instead of heavier. For hours. At 7am, I was still four centimeters. I had a bit of a nap during those early morning hours and so did my husband - and so did the OB, who had also had a long day. At 8am, they started some Pitocin trying to get things going again - which worked, but ummm... OW. About 10:30am, my OB was scratching her head. My other deliveries have been pretty quick, and she couldn’t figure out why this little guy wouldn’t come down. Then the lightbulb came on. “I bet he’s sunny-side up,” she declared. So, they had me turn over for a few contractions and do a couple of silly things - and then there was great movement in my belly and loud noises from the baby monitor. #4 had turned over.

After that, things happened pretty quick. He finally got to zero station and I finally hit 10 centimeters. Pushing itself was comparatively easy to last time. He was out in about eight contractions or so of pushing. I was so tired by that time (After all, I’d been contracting for 36 hours) that I had to have help to hold my legs up.

We were in the hospital for another 50 hours after that because I was positive for group B strep, but we got home this afternoon.

ComfyDenim said that that last picture didn’t do him justice. This one is better. :)